1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 387 The air is sweet
"I was not six months old, long-legged and clumsy, and I had never left my mother's side. I was separated from her in the commotion of the auction that day, and I have never seen her since. She was a great farm horse, an old one, but she still had the stamina and strength of an Irish draft horse in her front and back legs. She was sold in a few minutes, and she was hurried away from the auction before I could even follow her out the door.

But I have a hard time finding buyers.

Maybe it was because I was so panic-stricken and desperately circling around looking for my mother, or maybe it was because no farmer or gypsy wanted a spindly, half-blooded colt. Whatever the reason, they argued for a long time about how worthless I was, and finally I heard the hammer hit, and then I was turned out of the door and into a stable outside."

"[World War I] + [Little Pony] = the novel "War Horse""

The novel written by Jiang Xian, which was inspired by "World War I" and "My Little Pony", is called "War Horse".

As the title of the novel and the opening chapter suggest, the protagonist of this novel is a horse.

From the perspective of a farm horse named Joey, the novel tells the story of a horse's rough fate and displacement during the war. It also tells the story of Albert, a British farm boy, who goes on a journey to find a horse during World War I.

This is also the work that British writer laureate Morpurgo is most satisfied with.

In terms of status alone, Mopurgo's status in the UK is equivalent to that of Cao Wenxuan in China.

Well, this status refers to Teacher Cao’s status before his reputation collapsed.

The reason why he is compared to Cao Wenxuan is that Mopurgo is a writer of children's literature novels, and strictly speaking, the novel "War Horse" is also a children's literature novel.

However, the depth of this novel has surpassed the scope of children's literature.

This novel is very influential in the UK, winning several literary awards in the year of its publication. It was later adapted into a stage play and a radio play, which became very popular in the UK. Tickets for the play "War Horse" have been hard to come by in the UK for many years.

In addition, in later generations, the great director Spielberg "reflected on his youthful passion" and shot two children's films in succession at the age of 65.

One is called "The Adventures of Tintin".

Another one is "War Horse", the movie of the same name adapted from the novel.

Wang Anyi sat in a chair, sorting out the gains from this trip to the United States and recalling the gains from this journey.

On one side, there were long queues of people waiting in front of Manet's exhibition, and on the other side, there were the flashing neon lights on Forty-two Streets.

On one side is a giant industrial ship with computers and precision instruments operating strictly, and on the other side is the president who was a movie star and was casually dealing with a press conference.

On one side is a statue presented by immigrants to thank the New World for taking in the refugees who survived the war, and on the other side is an airplane bombing Greenhaven Island.

On one side is happy jazz music, and on the other side is a mentally ill patient with a mental breakdown.

Wang Anyi was thinking as she wrote.

When she came to the United States this time, she had already made an agreement with her mother, Ru Zhijuan, that the mother and daughter would write a diary together.

"Byebye, America."

Wang Anyi wrote the last line with a hint of melancholy. While she was moved, she couldn't help but feel a little complacent about her secret efforts.

I have to write something while on the plane.

I must be diligent and hardworking enough.

With an English announcement, the plane arrived in Hong Kong.

Because they had a connecting flight, everyone got up and packed their things.

Wang Anyi also organized her notebook and stood up, only to see Jiang Xian in the front row also leaning over his seat, writing something.

"Why hasn't Jiang Xian packed up yet?" she asked puzzled.

Zhu Lin turned around and said:

"Writing a novel."

"What?" Wang Anyi was a little dazed.

Zhu Lin had no choice but to go over and explain:

"I'm writing a novel. I recently conceived a new novel and started writing it as soon as I got on the plane. I guess I haven't finished writing the plot yet. I'll have to write for a while."

"Let's wait for him to get it out. If we stop now, he will definitely feel very uncomfortable." Wang Anyi said with a somewhat unfocused look.

Writing a novel?

New novel?!

Hiss.

Wang Anyi is a little skeptical about life.

She has been in the United States for so long that she has written a diary.

How many novels has Jiang Xian written in these few months?
Now you say he can write a book on his way back from the United States!
Could it be that this guy has a bookstore inside his head? He can just open a book and write whatever he wants to write.

Otherwise, there is no way to explain how this guy can always maintain such strong creative inspiration and passion?
Wang Anyi was so shocked that she began to doubt her life.

After a stop at the airport, the plane went directly to Beijing Capital Airport.

At the exit, two old comrades wrapped in military coats and two young women had been waiting here for a long time.

"Is this the flight?"

"Why haven't you arrived yet?"

"Dad, don't worry, the flight is probably a little late."

The people who came were Jiang's father and Zhu's father, as well as Jiang Ke and Zhu Hong. The two old comrades were waiting anxiously at the moment.

"Old Zhu, do you have the photo of our little Nian Nian?"

"I've got it. Zhu Lin keeps sending it to me. Look at this one. It's waving. What a cute little thing."

"Hey? Why didn't I keep this photo? Is there a copy of this photo?"

Of course, what the two old men were thinking about were their granddaughter and granddaughter-in-law whom they had never met.

For so long, the two old comrades could only look at the photos of the little Majesty sent from the United States and miss him day and night.

They say they are relatives across generations.

When people reach this age, isn’t the biggest wish to enjoy the company of grandchildren?

At this moment, I feel happy just thinking that I will be able to see His Majesty soon.

Lao Jiang and Lao Zhu both wished they could grow a pair of wings and fly directly onto the plane.

"Thinking back on it, time flies by. Thinking back to when we were in school," Father Zhu couldn't help but reminisce about those glorious days. "Old Jiang, do you remember? In our class exams, I always ranked first and you always ranked second. Well, we also ranked third, fourth, fifth and sixth, but I was always first."

"cough."

Jiang Guoqing bit his lip and continued, "Yes, Old Zhu, I still remember the time when I brought our brat to visit you. It seems like yesterday. At that time, our Jiang Xian didn't have a job. He was still an unemployed young man. He ran around in the alleys every day. I was counting on you to help him solve his work problems."

"You mean the blink of an eye."

“This kid actually became a writer!”

"And I married your daughter!"

Jiang Guoqing slapped his thighs, "Old Zhu, don't you think fate is amazing?"

"."

The two men recalled the past, and their necks gradually turned red. Jiang Ke and Zhu Hong saw that the atmosphere was not good.

"dad."

Following the call, both Jiang's father and Zhu's father turned their heads at the same time and looked at Zhu Lin, who was wrapped tightly in her arms and holding a swaddled baby. Their faces were immediately filled with excitement and joy.

"Are you back?" The two of them took two steps at a time and moved forward, looking at Zhu Lin and then at the child.

The baby was wrapped tightly in swaddling clothes. The two old men rubbed their hands, anxious to take a look but afraid to open the lid for fear that the little Majesty inside would be frozen.

"It took some time to get off the plane and go through customs." Jiang Xian said.

This time when I came back from the United States, I brought a lot of things with me, many of which needed to be inspected, and some required customs duties.

In addition, Jiang Xian also bought a lot of foreign language books, and the inspection of these publications was particularly troublesome.

Fortunately, Jiang Xian had been to Japan once and had experience in this area. He had reported it to the publication in advance, so they just went through the motions, did a simple inspection, and let them pass.

"Today, our family is finally reunited."

"Thank you for your hard work along the way. Let's go home quickly, go home quickly!" Jiang's father said enthusiastically.

This enthusiasm certainly had a purpose, which was to get home earlier and hug his lovely granddaughter earlier.

There are buses running between the airport and the city. Jiang Xian and his group had valuable luggage and a baby who was only a few months old, so there was no need to go through the hassle and they could just take a taxi outside the airport.

At this time, taxis were only for foreign guests, as taxis only accepted foreign currency and foreign exchange coupons. Wang Shuo even wrote in his novel that he hailed a taxi at the airport and said he had foreign currency, but when he arrived at the destination, the coupon was stamped on his taxi, so he acted like a scoundrel to the driver.

With the foreign exchange coupons Jiang Xian had in his hands, it would certainly not be difficult for him to take a taxi.

They took three taxis and the whole family squeezed in.

Jiang Xian, Zhu Lin and the Little Majesty sat in the back seat of a car. Jiang Ke moved up to the passenger seat and showed a smug look to Zhu Hong who was a step behind him.

The car started. It had just snowed in the capital in February, and there was a little white frost hanging on the red walls and black tiles.

"Little Nian Nian, come and let your aunt hug you." As soon as he got in the car, Jiang Ke couldn't wait to hug the little Majesty in Zhu Lin's arms.

"The child is asleep, let's talk about it when we get home." Jiang Xian scolded.

"Oh."

Jiang Ke agreed, and his every move and gesture had a hint of the Grand View Garden.

"Jiang Ke, I heard from your brother that you were chosen to film Dream of the Red Chamber?"

Zhu Lin asked Jiang Ke with great interest about her filming of "Dream of Red Mansions".

"Do you allow people to go out freely?"

"Why not? We are filming a movie, not going to jail."

Zhu Hong said that they are still in the training and casting stage, and it will take some time to decide which actor will play which role.

"Who are you playing?"

"I chose Baochai myself, but Director Wang was not very satisfied with me, so he recommended me to play Shi Xiangyun."

"Shi Xiangyun? That's fine too."

In the crew of "Red Mansion", the two roles that competed most fiercely were Xue Baochai and Lin Daiyu.

Jiang Xian remembered that the Xue Baochai that Wang Fulin had his eyes on was actually Zhu Biyun.

Zhu Biyun was a particularly famous young star at that time, and she was a classmate of Wang Zhiwen.

She is the actress who plays Xue Baochai that Wang Fulin is particularly satisfied with.

Finally, she was nominated by Wang Fulin himself and was chosen as the actress to play Xue Baochai without any selection.

As a result, halfway through the preparation, Zhu Biyun took the initiative to give up this opportunity.

She was also a love-brained woman. She gave up all her career in China and went abroad with her boyfriend who was a doctoral student in the United States. She also retired from the film industry.

Among the several actors who gave up filming "Red Mansions", Zhu Biyun had a relatively good ending.

The one who suffered the most was Le Yun, the actress who played Wang Xifeng.

Le Yun also gave up halfway through the performance.

She was only 17 years old when she met a Hong Kong actor named Lo Lieh who was 10 years older than her. Lo Lieh promised her that if she followed him to Hong Kong, he would make her a big star.

Le Yun was young and naive, so she believed it and followed Luo Lie to Hong Kong. Wang Fulin felt it was a pity, but unfortunately he tried to keep her several times but failed.

As for Le Yun's mother, she has treated Le Yun as a cash cow since she was a child. When she heard about such a good thing, of course she did not object.

Just like that, Le Yun went to Hong Kong, and slowly, she realized that all the promises Luo Lie made to her were lies, and she was cheated on.

This Luo Lie is not a powerful figure in Hong Kong at all.

He is out of fashion and has no resources or connections to arrange a job for Le Yun.

Moreover, he has been married twice and has a wife and a family.

The original wife caught her cheating, so Le Yun soon discovered that she was being cheated on by a mistress and then abandoned by Luo Lie.

At this time, her mother also came to Hong Kong. Not only did she not sympathize with Le Yun's situation, she also scolded her for being useless. She said that others who came to Hong Kong could hook up with big bosses and wear gold and silver, but you have achieved nothing and made me suffer such humiliation with you.

In order to make money, Le Yun had no choice but to shoot erotic films, but she still couldn't become popular and make no money. She was humiliated by her mother every day, "Why don't you go out to work? You just hide at home. Why don't you just die?"

And then, alas.

The car soon drove to the gate of his home in Jingshan East Hutong.

The family members were moving the luggage from the car, and Jiang Xian readily paid the drivers for the fare. Before all the luggage was moved, he handed a cigarette to each of them.

"Where did you just come from?" A driver couldn't help asking him out of curiosity.

"USA."

"Yo, America!"

The driver was surprised. He looked at the red-painted gate and then at Jiang Xian. He suddenly felt that this must be an important figure, perhaps a royal relative.

Look at this place where I live.

Can this be normal?

After finishing a cigarette, the drivers turned around and got into the car. One driver was about to close the door, but suddenly stopped and turned around to get out.

"Comrade, let me ask you another question."

"You said."

"I heard that the air in the United States smells sweet. Is that true?" the young driver asked seriously.

Jiang Xian didn't take it seriously, thinking he was joking, but when he saw that he looked very serious, he didn't know whether he should sigh at the simple folk customs or the magic of the times.

"how could be?"

Jiang Xian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Comrade, the whole world is experiencing the same cold and heat!"

".So that's it."

The driver's view of America was disenchanted by Jiang Xian, and his eyes became more socialist. He got back into the car and slowly drove out of the alley under the curious gaze of the neighbors.

Jiang Xian stood there for a while, laughed to himself, and then turned back to his own yard which he had not seen for a long time.

The room was filled with the little Majesty's crying and the adults' voices coaxing her, it was noisy and lively.

Blue bricks, black tiles, red walls, bicycles
Jiang Xian felt that the air in his home was a little sweet.

(End of this chapter)